HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME Previews — Page 7

**Some Spoilers**

I found the show disappointing too. I had high hopes for it. There's lots of good material there and I loved most of the music and most of the cast, but I had two real problems with it.

First, the haphazard flow of energy and narrative drive. The book writer and director just let the tension flag too often. Whenever a number or plot point would gain momentum, the air would suddenly be let out of it, either with a poor finish to a number, or by an overlong, meandering, or poorly-placed book scene.

The second big problem for me was the lead character's performance—an inexcusable flaw in any show. Saul Williams may be a star of the slam poetry world, but he is not an engaging actor, advanced acting degree notwithstanding. There was no trace of sexuality in his portrayal of John. The character has just been released from years in prison, and to be sure, he's repressing his passion for the woman he lost to another man while locked up, but you need to see and feel that passion anyway—that sexual heat. The scenes between John and Corinne should smoulder once she breaks through the wall he's built, but they are cold. I also couldn't understand much of his rapping. At first I blamed the sound design, but later realized I could hear every lyric from all the other actors.

I can't help comparing him with Chad Boseman from the workshop, who oozed sex and longing despite his post-prison feelings of isolation. Boseman's powerful performance anchored John as the true heart of the show. He was superb. I look forward to seeing him in the film Get On Up, as James Brown in August. GetOnUpMovie.com

I think the lead character in this show deserves/needs at least one sung solo song that shows more than just his anger. One would think there might be one Tupac poem that could have been set to music for him. Then again, writing the right defining piece for any character in a musical is notoriously difficult—having to choose from a fixed number of existing works to define that character is next to impossible. If it doesn't already exist, you've got nothing. Christopher Jackson's character has more character development and a couple of great songs. Maybe the story should have been built around his character, merging elements of John's story into his. Plus Jackson can sing. Williams can't—his few sung lines in Unconditional Love were not good.

I agree with the posters who suggested that the conceit of John's drawings creating the world of the play should have been followed through right to the end. It was a great idea that they just kind of dropped. I wish George C. Wolfe, a dramatist as well as a director, had helmed this show.

A silly final thought, but something I found distractingly implausible. That purple Cadillac that Griffy and Benny had painstakingly restored obviously meant everything to Griffy. He's constantly wiping every fingerprint and speck of dust off the finish. No car freak would let anyone even LEAN on such a car, much less let people dance on the hood and stomp around on the white leather seats. I guess you could say that with Griffy's father and best friend dead, he doesn't care anymore, he's just happy that the "rumble" didn't happen and everyone's having fun. But all I could think during California Love was "What is Griffy thinking about this?" :)

Kenny made the same speech on Friday evening. He mentioned several times that it was a world premiere, and tell your friends if you like it! Don't tell them if you don't. Nice.

TimesSquared, I agree whole heartedly about Saul Williams. I was surprised to see he didn't capture my attention at all. They've been promoting him as the star, when I found that Chris Jackson was the star, for me. I also found Saul's enunciation left something to be desired. You could tell the more experienced actors and vocalists- Chris Jackson and Saycon- from those with less stage experience, by the fact that you couldn't understand/hear them in the balcony. There's only so much the sound designers can do.

Updated On: 6/9/14 at 01:26 PM

^^Haha thanks, I'll keep that handy for next time :P

I had the opportunity of seeing this show last night. And from what I've been told, it wasn't the same show as 2 nights before. So what ever the show was last night worked for me in a lot of ways. There are moments that we're confusing at times. But overall not a bad show. The talent on stage is certainly top notch. I sat in the balcony last night and had no problem hearing anyone. I was confused as to who was talking at times, but never had an issue of clarity in diction or delivery. I'm not going to go too much into the story because I want people to go form there own opinions. Because if I had relied solely on people's opinions here I may not have gone to see half the shows that I now LOVE. Or seen last nights show which I considered an enjoyable night at the theater.

P.S. I would by the OCR in a minute

"theatremom2 I wish everybody was as open minded as you! :)"

Oh come off it! You act like people are just sh!tting on this show for no reason. It's a HORRIBLE, BORING musical that no one should have to suffer through.

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We'll the good thing is, no one is forcing you to go see it. You have the choice to not go. So don't

Has anyone gotten TDF tickets? If so where abouts were they located?

I got tickets through TDF and was seated in the rear mezzanine. I thought, after hearing how the show wasn't selling, that we'd be seated closer, but the view wasn't bad. At least it was the balcony at that theatre. The worst.

Saw it last night. I liked it a lot more than people here, by which I mean I didn't despise it? Anyway, really quick.

PROS
* The cast is 99% exceptional. A lot of them are Broadway debut, and lots of young folks, but you'd never know they were new to Broadway. The ensemble is flawless, to be able to switch from book scenes to singing to rap, and then mix it up? And do it so well and with such enthusiasm? Their energy was infectious.
* The featured roles - Ben Thompson, Saycon Sengbloh, Joshua Boone, Dyllon Burnside in particular - are cast and performed perfectly.
* Tonya Pinkins, natch.
* The orchestra sounded great and was mixed really well. Also the song selections, aside from one too many "we're destined to die" songs in Act 2, were pretty song.

CONS
* Saul Williams aka the lead. I can see why he was cast. When he was rapping directly to the audience, there's an incredible energy he pulls out of the air and throws at the audience. The problem, the fatal flaw to the production, is that whenever he's "acting" when another person, the energy goes away and there's extremely little chemistry of any kind with anyone. Perhaps it's something he'll grow into, but it didn't nothing but made me roll or rest my eyes. Also? His role is just horribly written.
* The use of the stage. The stadium seating was actually kind of cool. I was in the mezzanine, and it was a neat feeling to feel like we were all one audience. That said, I felt that so much was staged downstage to create that intimacy that the amount of time I spent looking down as opposed to out made it a little uncomfortable.
* The book is the other fatal flaw. I think Act 2 is actually a lot smoother than Act 1, but Act 1 was rough, particularly whenever Saul was driving plot. I'm sure I missed some plot points just glazing over.
* The language. I understand that they had to create as much verisimilitude as possible, and it was coming based on Tupac's music, but the use of f*ck and n*gga right out the gate, particularly in one of the big early numbers, was jarring. Especially since you really don't hear as much of it, I don't think, as you go along in the plot. You'd think they'd put any kind of parental advisory on the website, but nope, it's just in the small print on Ticketmaster.

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I thought this was mostly a mess. For something that has been touted as brave, daring, original, and "gamechanging," this is a cliche-ridden, paper-thin, uninvolving show. It was almost as if the creative team said "okay, so we're gonna use Tupac's music to create a musical, but that's where we'll stop pushing the envelope." I saw where the entire story was headed about ten minutes in.

There is a murder which sets off the "plot," in the first few minutes, and it happens offstage to a character we don't know anything about. So the moment that's supposed to get the wheels of the show turning is completely lost on the audience. You're given no real reason to care. There were about three musical numbers which were staged excitingly, but had no bearing on the development of the plot or characters. So while they may wake you up, they're still not giving you a reason to care about the story at hand. The book is, as Whizzer said, deadly. The second the cast begins to speak, any momentum built from the opening number comes to a screeching halt.

The cast is alright, though every single role is underwritten. And every relationship is underdeveloped. The love story (stories?), the friendships, the rivalries, the mother/son rapport, they're all undercooked and I didn't care about any of them. Saul Williams is clearly a good rapper, though he swallows about 75% of his words here, which I also blame on the horrifically unbalanced sound design. And while he emotes effectively, it's a bit too aggressive and overpowering at times. When he actually sings (thankfully it's not often), it's rough. Saycon is in fine voice, as are Chris Jackson and Tonya Pinkins, but the two ladies are underused and particularly one-dimensional.

The sets are non-existent. Some nice use of projections here and there, but the Palace's cavernous stage has never looked so barren. I liked the lighting design quite a bit. The direction is the least of the show's issues...it's fine.

I'm all for a bold, exciting, gamechanging new musical. If it's done well. Unfortunately for HOLLER, it's just not a well-written or particularly inventive piece of theater, beyond the unconventional use of rap music.

Updated On: 6/12/14 at 08:43 AM

This show was a complete mess and it was totally impossible to follow the plot. SHOW, don't tell. If someone gets killed before the play starts, you need to change that. You need to show someone with a gun and shoot the person on the stage. And you have to do a much better job of saying who is who. I gave up caring or trying to follow the plot. As did the audience as there were tons of empty seats after intermission. There were a few powerfully performed songs (Kalifornia, a famous rap song by Tupac in the 2nd act, and a third song) that I really enjoyed, but these great songs don't compensate for the complete mess of a book.

Today is 2Pac birthday, what a great present a mediocre musical. i'm assuming its frozen by now, this things going to get slaughtered on thursday.